Global Panel Shipments Will Increase By 9.1% In 2021, Writing A 10-year High

- May 04, 2020-

New coronary pneumonia impacts global TV and smartphone sales, reducing the demand for related panels. Omdia estimates that global large, medium and small size panel shipments will decline by 11.1% this year, from 3.6 billion last year to 3.2 billion This is also the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.

Omdia Display Industry Research Director Ricky Park said that the new Coronary Pneumonia epidemic is spreading all over the world, and governments around the world have successively offered closed management and closed stores across the country, which has caused a sharp reduction in terminal consumption. Especially for TVs and smartphones, because most sales depend on physical stores, they are also the most affected. The decrease in sales of the two major consumer electronics products has also led to a decline in panel demand. However, after a sharp decline in demand this year, it is expected that future demand will rebound significantly, and panel shipments will grow by 9.1% in 2021, writing a 10-year high.

By application, TV and smartphone sales will be the most affected this year. Omdia estimates that TV shipments will decline by 9.5%, while smartphone shipments will decline by about 10%. In contrast, the demand for IT products is relatively stable. Working at home and online learning have increased the demand for IT products recently. It is estimated that this year's display shipments will only decline slightly by 1.9%, and notebook computer shipments will decrease by about 5.8%.

However, this year's new panel production capacity is mainly for 10.5 fabs. The increase in the shipment of large-size panels still led to a small increase of 1.8% in panel shipment area. High-end panels such as flexible and foldable panels, as well as ultra-narrow bezels or even bezel-less panels, continued to grow in shipments.

A major focus of the display industry this year is that Korean panel makers withdrew from the LCD panel market. South Korean panel makers will gradually close their 7.5-generation and 8.5-generation panel production lines this year, reducing the shipment of small and medium-sized TV panels. Most of the new production capacity is oversized 65-inch or larger panels, which will increase the shipment area this year.

South Korean panel makers have shifted their focus to AMOLED panels. China also has new AMOLED panel production capacity. Omdia estimates that AMOLED panel shipments will still maintain high growth this year. It is estimated that OLED TV panel shipments this year will grow by 35.9% compared with last year, and AMOLED mobile phone panel shipments will also have a growth rate of about 9%. With the change in production capacity structure, the trend of the display industry towards large-scale, high-end technology is accelerating.